This year’s election night will look like no other – no overnight counts, no swingometers and no early-hours heartache for the candidates.
That’s because coronavirus restrictions mean counting will not even begin until Friday morning, when the first batch of constituency results will start being added up.
Under Holyrood’s Additional Member System, the public is given two votes: one to select a single candidate to represent their constituency and another for the party or people they would like to represent their region.
To create a more balanced parliament in line with the country’s views, each party’s regional vote is divided by one more than the number of seats it has won so far in that region, including constituencies.
This means the more constituency seats a party returns, the fewer list seats it will win.
The counting will take place during office hours this year, with the second and final batch of constituency votes expected on Saturday, before list results are calculated.
We will have reporters and photographers reporting live from every count across Tayside and Fife, Grampian, the Highlands and Islands, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Our election team will bring you the latest results as they happen, with live updates on the Election Hub website and on our social media channels with Election Hub Live news bulletins streaming throughout the day.
When results could be called
The pandemic means that things are subject to change at short notice but on Friday we expect counts and results announcements for:
- Aberdeen Central
- Aberdeen Donside
- Aberdeenshire East
- Angus North and Mearns
- Argyll and Bute
- Banffshire and Buchan Coast
- Caithness, Sutherland and Ross
- Cowdenbeath
- Dundee City West
- Inverness and Nairn
- Kirkcaldy
- Moray
- Na h-Eileanan an Iar
- North East Fife
- Orkney
- Perthshire North
- Shetland
- Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
On Saturday, we expect counts and results to be announced for:
- Aberdeen South and North Kincardine
- Aberdeenshire West
- Almond Valley
- Angus South
- Dundee City East
- Dunfermline
- Mid Fife and Glenrothes
- Perthshire South and Kinrossshire
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